Spent part of a hot summer afternoon at a southern Connecticut beach, and noticed two approaches to airborne advertising above our heads – a plane towing a large banner, and another plane skywriting a message.
The banner-toting plane was promoting a steak sandwich at Subway. Had I been hungry and in the mood for Subway, the ad might’ve made a stronger impression. Since neither was true, the plane’s novelty value (and our attention) was short-lived.
The skywriting plane went by a short time alter spitting out, letter by letter, a message reading, “Hot summer fun at Mohegan Sun.” (Mohegan Sun is one of two Native American casino resorts in Connecticut, and ads promoting both casinos are nearly ubiquitous in New England and New York.)
Judging from the crowds around us, the skywriting plane did a much better job not only of capturing people’s attention, but also holding it long enough for us to read the message. You could hear people around us reading out the words as they appeared in the sky, almost like they were solving a Wheel of Fortune puzzle.
The planes provided a good illustration of the importance not just of capturing your audience’s attention, but also of holding it. Whether it’s providing valuable informative content, entertainment value or just curiosity, you need to craft your message in a way that’s going to retain people’s attention long enough for your point to be driven home.
After we left the beach, we didn’t run out for steak subs or to a casino, so (at least in our case) neither message really converted well. But when it came to grabbing beachgoers’ attention, the skywriting clearly beat the towed banner.
